Bubble Bath and a Nice Merlot
by Mapgirl
Summary: The story of when one very manly Special Agent discovers that his even manlier former marine Boss makes his heart sit up and dance. Yes, this will be slash at some point.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is an ambitious attempt on my behalf to write both my first Multi-Chapter story, and my first slash. It might take quite a while, so please be patient. And don't expect regular updates.**

**All characters and the show NCIS are not mine, and will never be mine. Unless really freaky things happen with the universe.**

**I do not have a beta reader, so any and all mistakes are my own fault, and I apologise. Despite Rule 6. Spelling and Grammar mistakes deserve apologies.**

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><p>Abby had warned him just this morning that his attitude of late was going to piss off the Gods of Karma, or something like that. He really, sincerely, wished that he had listened to her and had made time today to help an old lady cross the street. Or something. Because seriously, what the fuck was up with his luck?<p>

Coffee spilled down his tie (his beautiful new Zegna tie). Flat on the 'Stang. Tim – Tim! – getting tossed the keys when they were sent out to question a witness. Holy slow driver Batman, could McCautious be any more annoying behind the wheel? And the witness. The owner of a shipping company contracted by the Navy to freight office supplies to the Middle East. Some shipments had a lot more in the crates than was indicated on the manifests, and one such crate of drugs got into suspicious hands. So there they were, interviewing the owner of the company, fishing in the dark trying to come up with any possible leads to tell them who in the company was the dirty bastard. And the owner, who they had NO IDEA was the dirty bastard, somehow deduced from their questions (erroneously) that they had him figured out, and decided to run. Why do the perps always run? If Dirty Bastard had held on to his cool for 5 more minutes, he and Tim would have moseyed on out of there none the wiser and Dirty Bastard could have devised some plan to sail into the sunset or hop a plane to China, or more realistically, hang around D.C. and get caught in a couple of days after their crack investigative skills had pieced the clues together. But no.

Dirty Bastard took off running through the warehouse, and despite Tony's manly bellows of "Stop, Federal Agents!" he did not stop. His bewildered and befuddled employees stood by as the three men raced past and out the doors to the loading dock, which was icy. Icy, slippery loading docks are not easy to run on in Gucci loafers. Which is how he ended up bounce, bounce, bouncing on his ass down the loading dock steps, Dirty Bastard getting cocky and turning to laugh, and McGee sailing over Tony in a pretty impressive display of the usefulness and practicality of ugly rubber-soled shoes. Tony really did have to give Probie props – the flying tackle was awesome, as viewed from his slightly upside down, spread-eagle sprawled-down-a-flight-of-stairs, vantage point.

So they (Tim) got the Dirty Bastard cuffed and in the car and they then headed back to the Navy Yard to turn said bastard over to Gibbs. Tony, his suit slightly rumpled but fixable, paid a reluctant visit to Ducky who determined his bumps and bruises were superficial, gave him an icepack just in case, and sent him to Abby for hugs and kisses.

Now here he was, seven hours later, stuck in an absolutely ridiculous predicament. His ass had started to protest its treatment on the stairs, and there was a general tightening of all muscle groups. So like any former varsity athlete-manly federal agent was wont to do, he had run himself a bath, liberally sprinkling in the Epsom salts and foam bath (lavender and sage, guaranteed to soothe both the soul and aching muscles according to the label). It smelled good and the bubbles were a bonus. Trying not to feel too girly, he poured himself a glass of wine (only because he had run out of beer), blew up his bath pillow and affixed it to the tub with the suction cup thingys, and gingerly stepped over the lip of the tub, promptly skidding on the slippery skin the Epson salts had coated the porcelain with.

For the second time that day, he flailed and twisted and landed on his ass. Unfortunately, this time his back gave a holy hell freaking fuck of a spasm, rendering him immobile in 8 inches of pleasantly scented water. As he lay there cursing Abby for her bad luck premonition, he considered his (very limited) options. One, he miraculously recovered and was able to stand up and go to bed and end this freak of a day. Not likely. Two, he recovered a teeny tiny bit, just enough to flip himself over the edge of the tub and crawl to bed. A few tentative movements of his arms and legs and back quickly cast this scenario into the Not Likely category as well. So with a roll of his eyes and a curse to the gods, he accepted the inevitability of Option Three and reached over the edge of the tub, blindly groping with his hand for the cell phone he had placed on the closed toilet seat while preparing the bath. Rule #3, never be unreachable, you know. Even in the bathtub.

For many reasons, he really, really, didn't want to make this call.

"Gibbs."

"Um, hey Boss. How's it going? What's up?"

"What's wrong DiNozzo?"

Tony could hear the resigned sigh over the phone. It was pretty scary sometimes, how Gibbs could read his voice so easily.

"Well, ya see Gibbs. You were a Marine, right?"

"You called to tell me I was a Marine?"

"No, not that. It's just that McGee was a Webelos. And even though he's been doing real good at the working out and the training and all, and that was a pretty cool tackle he made this morning, I don't think he's strong enough for this, and I don't think McPrude took a lot of community showers in the Scouts."

"DiNozzo? Did Ducky give you painkillers?"

"No Boss. See, the thing is, you're a Marine and I was a varsity athlete. So you're strong and used to naked guys in a locker room and I need your help Boss."

"What the hell Tony?"

"I sort of slipped and fell in the bathtub, and now my back has totally spasmed on me and I can't get out. I'm stuck. And the water's getting cold. I was going to call McGee to help me, but as I said, the whole me being naked thing will probably scar the Probie for life. Plus, I'm like 6'1" of solid muscle boss. I don't know that he could lift me."

Tony finished spewing his babble, and calmly waited for any sort of a reply.

"I'll be right there Tony. Hang tight."

"Um, Boss? Might wanna make sure you've got both your lock picks and some bolt cutters. Pretty sure I put the chain on."

As usual, there was no goodbye from Gibbs, just the click and dead air as he hung up the phone. Tony snapped his shut too, and tossed it back over the lip of the tub, belatedly thinking,_ Oh yeah, can't move. Maybe should have kept that in reach._

He squirmed a little, trying to ease the ache in his back a little from the weird shape he was crumpled in, and tried not to think too much about the fact that he was splayed naked in a tub, looking just about as vulnerable as it was possible to be. And that Gibbs, Mr. Tough Marine, was coming to rescue him from this totally ridiculous situation.


	2. Chapter 2

What Tony didn't realize, was that Gibbs was not alone tonight.

Gibbs disconnected from the call, grabbed his bolt cutters from the toolbox, and headed up the stairs to the kitchen. "Hey Abbs, How much time until supper's ready?"

"Hmm, maybe 15 minutes or so, why? You getting hungry?"

Abby indulged in her maternal instincts by showing up at Gibbs place every couple of weeks and cooking him dinner, usually making a ridiculous amount of food so that she could freeze the leftovers for him to heat up when he didn't want to cook or order takeout.

"No, but Tony just called. I need to head over to his place for a bit. He's got himself in a bit of a jam."

Her eyes widened as she saw the bolt cutters in his hands. "What are you gonna _do_ to him Gibbs?"

He laughed a little at her expression and explained, "He's somehow managed to get stuck in the bathtub. I really don't know the whole story, he was rambling on about Webelos and McGee. I just said I'd be over to help. Can you hold dinner, and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"No way mister. I'm coming with you. Tony was hurting this morning whether he admitted it or not, and he might need some good Abbylovin'. The food will hold."

"Abbs, he seemed to be pretty embarrassed. He might not want visitors."

"Gibbs! I'm not a visitor! I'm Abby! We're like Butch and Sundance, or Calvin and Hobbes. Gin and tonic! We've actually discussed that one: he's the gin and I'm the tonic." With obvious pride, she added, "I'm his wing-girl! He and I share _everything_. He won't care if I come along."

Gibbs gave up on convincing her to stay behind, and escorted her out to the truck. They drove the short 10 minutes to Tony's place, and managed to find on-street parking a block or so away. Abby insisted on playing this as a caper, and carrying the bolt cutters. She held them secreted under the flap of her trench coat, and he expected her to start referencing B&E movies at any moment. When they reached Tony's apartment door, she bounced with excitement as he got out his picks.

"Can I try Gibbs? Please? I'm getting really good, I've actually managed to do it a couple times now! This is so much fun, I hardly ever get to B&E when it's not like, illegal."

Gibbs stopped what he was doing and stared at her. "Abby. When exactly do you break into places _illegally_? And who's teaching you to pick locks?"

A guilty look crossed her face. "Umm, you might want to go with plausible deniability on that Gibbs. Pretend we never had this conversation, okay?" She gave him a sheepish grin. "And Ziva is teaching me to use the picks. And bobby pins. She says it's never a bad idea to be prepared for the worst. So can I try it?"

Gibbs looked back to the door and deftly sprung the lock. "Abbs, how about I just get us in to help Tony. When we get home you can pick my locks to your hearts content, okay. And be careful with the illegal crap. I don't want to be bailing you out of jail again. Now hand over the bolt cutters."

He opened the door as far as he could, and snapped the chain easily with the cutters.

"DiNozzo! We're in."

"Uh, _we_ Boss?" came a voice from down the hall.

Abby pushed passed Gibbs in the doorway, and rushed down the hall to the bathroom.

"Tony! Are you okay?"

"Abbs! I'm naked! Get out!" Tony quickly did his best to cover his dangly bits with his hands, as his best friend came to a whirling stop next to the tub.

"Nothing I haven't seen before DiNozzo. Get over yourself." She leered down at him. "Geez, poor Little Tony's looking, uh, little."

"Stop leering and get the hell out. And for your information, the water happens to be cold. Very cold. Shrinkage is a medically proven fact."

Gibbs walked into the bathroom, and looked around. "Wine and mood lighting DiNozzo? Really?"

Abby turned on a bounce, and wiggled her eyebrows at Gibbs. "He says it's from the cold water Gibbs, but I think whichever hand he's dating tonight is gonna be disappointed."

It was sort of like a car wreck – you just couldn't help but look.

All three sets of eyes in the room swiveled to Tony's groin before he snapped, "Enough Abby! The lights were 'cause my head ached; the wine was to relax me, and the bath to help my frickin' ass muscles. Now God help me, if you don't get the hell out of here I will never help you win a jitterbug contest again."

Gibbs quickly stopped his eyes from ogling his SFA's naked body, and gently turned Abby and sent her out into the hall. "Abby, why don't you go find Tony some boxers and a T-shirt, and lay them out in his room. Then go to the living room until we're done. I'll take it from here." She pouted a little, but moved on down the hallway to do as was asked of her.

"I love her Boss, I really do, but sometimes…" Tony broke off. "While I was lying here waiting for you, I really didn't think I could get any more embarrassed. I, uh, I wasn't planning to, you know, _do_ anything, or umm, have a romantic evening or anything _like that_. Despite the evidence. It just looks, well, incriminating." Tony could feel a rosy glow spreading across his chest and up his neck to his cheeks. "So, do you think we can get a move on here 'cause really, the water is pretty cold, and my back hurts like a bitch."

Gibbs looked down into the tub and evaluated the situation. "You do look like a pretzel DiNozzo. I think we better drain the water before we start splashing around. Maybe rinse some of that goop out of the tub too, so it's not as slippery when I lift you."

Gibbs knelt down and studiously tried to avoid looking at Tony's crotch while he reached between the prone man's legs to pull the drain plug. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tony staring up at the showerhead with a look of utter mortification on his face. Gibbs began running fresh water after the tub had drained, thoughtfully adjusting the temperature before he began rinsing the leftover bits of Epsom salts stuck to the tub bottom.

"Do you think you could raise your ass at all so I can splash some water under you?"

Tony didn't answer or break his stare on the showerhead, but used his thigh muscles to raise himself an inch or so off the bottom of the bathtub, wincing in pain as he did so.

Gibbs was so intent on his mission (rinse the tub as fast as possible so Tony could get some clothes on and _not be_ _naked_ anymore) that he blurted without thinking, "Hey, what is this stuff, you smell pretty good?" Hell, he said that out loud. Well that was enough to break Tony's stare.

"Uh, it's Epsom salts and bath foam. Sage and lavender. Supposed to be good for sore muscles."

Gibbs tried to play it off, "Hmm, you don't say. I'll have to pick some up sometime."

The thought of Gibbs relaxing in a bubble bath was almost enough to break Tony's brain. His mind went like a pinball machine: random inappropriate thoughts bouncing around his skull as he desperately tried to rein in his mouth from making a highly inadvisable smart-ass comment (he really didn't think he wanted a headslap while naked). And then it happened. Oh no. Oh please shit no. Warm splashy water and naked headslaps and Gibbs' hands _right there_ and What The Fuck? There was twitching where there definitely shouldn't be twitching; where there shouldn't be movement of any kind, _ever_, when his boss was in the vicinity. Tony's horror magnified tenfold as he felt his traitorous penis start to harden.

"Oh hey Boss, I don't suppose you could leave, like I mean, for the kitchen, for a minute, for some, uh, water? A glass of water. Thirsty. I'm thirsty."

"DiNozzo, you want out of here today or not?" As he spoke, Gibbs eyes flicked from the taps over to Tony's face, skimming up his body in the process. In the second it took to track over to Tony's eyes, his brain snagged on what he couldn't possibly have seen and his eyes whipped back to verify. Oh good God. Apparently Little Tony wasn't suffering from shrinkage anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for all the kind reviews. They are very appreciated! As always, no beta or proofreader, so I apologize for any typos and grammatical mistakes I wasn't able to catch on my own.**

Chapter 3:

Tony figured that the best defense was always a good offense. So he assessed the situation, and decided that the game was not yet lost. Although it was obvious Gibbs had noticed his little half-salute, it looked like he was going to ignore the elephant now crowded into the bathroom with them. Nobody ever said Tony wasn't a quick thinker, so before his dick worked its way into a full-fledged hard-on he speedily hatched a game plan to save himself from: a) more embarrassment, and b) possible death by Gibbs-glare. The only thing he could think of to 'deflate' the situation was to quickly twist his waist, causing a burning spasm of pain to shoot across his back and radiate through his extremities. "Oh sweet mother!" burst from his lips as the agony hit.

"What the hell's wrong with you DiNozzo?" Gibbs shot back as he studied the pain on his SFA's face. "What are you flailing around for?"

"Um, muscle cramp in my leg Boss. I had to move." Tony hoped Gibbs wouldn't call him on the weak lie. Taking a second to breath through the residual pain, he (thankfully) determined that All was Quiet on the Western Front. No more happy dance downstairs. The elephant had been banished and they were back to the originally scheduled program, i.e., getting out of this godforsaken bathtub.

Gibbs decided that the tub wasn't going to get any less slippery no matter how much water he splashed around, so they'd better get on with getting Tony out. He toed off his sneakers then pulled off his socks and stepped a leg over the lip of the tub so he was straddling Tony's prone body, one leg in and one out.

Tony sighed. He really needed to find out from Abby how to fix his karma. He now had an up close and personal view of exactly how faded and worn Gibbs' jeans were, and how tightly they molded to his thighs and uh, crotch, with him stretching over the tub like that.

"Okay DiNozzo. I'm going to grab you under the armpits, and see if I can get you sitting up to start with. Okay?"

"Go for it Boss. Pretty sure it's gonna hurt, but don't worry about it. Don't stop. I've gotta get out somehow."

Gibbs reached down and grabbed Tony, and slowly tried to ease him upright. He could tell the other man was in pain, but he steeled himself to it and kept lifting, sort of half sliding/dragging Tony's ass back along the tub as he lifted, so there was room to sit upright.

Tony tried to ignore the pain, and he helped Gibbs as much as he could, trying to support some of his weight on his arms and assist in the sliding. It was sort of hard to do with his eyes closed, but there was no way in hell he was opening his eyes right now, with his face a foot from Gibbs' crotch. So much for the lack of inhibition locker room showers provided, this was just too personal.

Once Tony was sitting upright, more or less, Gibbs let him go, and switched positions so that he was now behind the other man. He once again placed his hands under Tony's armpits and began to lift. Tony gasped with the pain as his back began spasming from the movement, and Gibbs quickly paused.

"No Boss, keep going. Like ripping a band-aid you know. Just gotta get it over with."

So Gibbs kept lifting until Tony was up on his feet, one hand cautiously bracing himself on the wall and the other gripping his lower back, massaging the muscles. Gibbs made sure Tony was steady, then stepped out of the tub and grabbed a couple of towels.

"Here you go Tony, can you dry off okay?"

Tony took one towel and wrapped it around his waist, then used the second to carefully blot at his chest and arms, trying not to actually move any part of his torso as he dried. "This will do. I just want to get into bed."

Gibbs helped him over the side of the tub, and they carefully made their way down the hall to Tony's bedroom. Tony was thankful to be up and out of the tub, and to have the towel covering him. As soon as he was in bed, he'd get Gibbs to bring him a few painkillers, and he could drift into la-la-land, forgetting any part of this miserable day had happened. He would block the memory of those embarrassing moments in the bathtub from his mind, and never think about them again.

Abby had rummaged through Tony's drawers and found boxers for him to wear and left them laying on the bed. She had also filled a glass with water and left it on his nightstand along with his bottle of ibuprofen, and taken the time to turn down his covers and plump his pillows. She must have felt bad for teasing him earlier.

"Thanks for the help Gibbs. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't home. I'll just get dressed and get into bed, then hopefully my back will settle down some."

He could now pretend that the burgeoning erection was just a fluke, a momentary misfire of his body's chemistry. It had nothing to do with Gibbs. Tony reached for the boxers on his bed and dropped the towel from his waist, realizing as he did so that his Big Day of Bad Luck and All Around Shittiness wasn't quite over yet.

Gibbs seemed to realize the same thing, and reached to take the boxers from Tony. "You can't bend over to get these on can you DiNozzo?"

"I can pretty much guarantee this is the first time I've needed help with my underpants since I was three. Back then they were probably Captain America Underoos, not boring plaid boxers."

Gibbs smirked. "Captain America Tony? I didn't realize your crime-fighting fascination started that long ago."

"Oh, I had all the Underoos: Superman, Batman. Captain America was my favorite. I guess I've always been a sucker for a man in tights."

Gibbs was kneeling on the floor with the boxers held open for Tony to step into. He paused, and stared up at Tony, one eyebrow raised in question.

Tony took a moment and replayed that last line in his head. "Huh. Well that came out weird. Not really what I meant at all. I don't find men in tights attractive in any way. I meant that I've just always been into men playing a superhero role. Which is also not what I meant to say. I don't like men. Not like I like women, whom I tend to find very attractive in tights. Like Abby. Or like gymnasts." Tony paused and furrowed his brow for a moment. "I don't like Abby, Boss. Not like I like…"

"DiNozzo! Shut up and step into your damn boxers."

"Yes Boss."

Gibbs yanked the boxers up far enough for Tony to reach, and got up to flip the covers back even more so Tony could sit down on the bottom sheet. "You got anything stronger than OTC Tony?" he asked as he helped Tony to lift his legs up onto the bed and swing them around, then ease Tony down onto the pillows.

"Yeah, in the medicine chest there's both painkillers and muscle relaxants leftover from the Hopper case a couple months ago. They're gonna make me loopier than shit, but I think I need'em Gibbs."

Gibbs disappeared down the hall and came back with the two prescription bottles and Tony's cell phone. Tony took the pills and water offered by Gibbs, and lifted his head somewhat to drink and swallow. "Thanks Gibbs. I'm sure this wasn't how you planned to spend your evening. What were you and Abbs up to anyway?"

"She was cooking me dinner. Some kind of Cajun chicken rice casserole thing I think. Smelled good anyway."

"Oh, sorry I ruined your dinner."

"No problem DiNozzo. She turned the oven down; it'll still be warm when we get home. I'm gonna go clean up the bathroom a bit. I'll be back in few minutes to check on you."

"You don't have to do that Gibbs, I can get it tomorrow." Tony yawned around his protest.

"Don't worry about it. Abby wants to come see you, can I send her down?"

"Umm, hmm. Yeah."

A few minutes later, Abby stuck her head around the doorframe, and smiled at him. Getting a smile in return, she immediately climbed into bed with Tony and snuggled up to his side. "I'm sorry Tony. I didn't mean to be so mean when you were hurting. It wasn't nice to tease you like that. As soon as I finish cooking Gibbs' dinner, and packaging up all his freezer meals, then I'm coming straight back here to spend the night, in case you need something later."

"S'okay Abbs. I'm sure if I came across you in that position I'd have made a few jokes too. You don't need to spend the night, these pills will kick in soon enough, and then I'll be out of it until morning."

"I think they're kicking in already. You're getting a little bit slurry."

Gibbs was back, standing in the bedroom door.

"Hey Gibbs, you ready to leave? No arguing Tony. I'll just let myself in with my key since you can't get up to stop me. I'm coming back." With that she kissed his cheek, climbed off the bed, and headed for the door, stopping when Gibbs caught her arm.

"You've got a key?"

At her nod, he shook his head in exasperation. "Then why did I pick his lock?"

"Cause it wouldn't have been as fun to just unlock the door Gibbs. We were staging a rescue. It had to be dramatic." She quirked a smile on her face, and bounced off to the living room to begin the process of strapping herself into her boots.

Gibbs shook his head and smiled. "Gotta love her. Now, I stuck your cell on the table here, can you reach it?" Tony nodded and gave Gibbs a slightly goofy smile. He really did get stoned quickly on any kind of drugs. "Call me if you need help again tonight, or let Abby help you. You're hurt; don't try to be a hero. I'll call in the morning to see how you are."

"Ok Gibbs. I'll be a good special agent and not try nothin' schtupid tonight. But I'm not a hero. You're the shooper-hero Gibbs. Even if you don't wear tights."

Gibbs rolled his eyes at Tony, and then left him to sleep. Tony could hear Gibbs and Abby leave, and the door click shut behind them. He floated in a muzzy haze, happy the drugs were starting to do their job, and his back was easing a bit. As he drifted off, he tried to wrap his foggy mind around his bizarre thoughts of superheros and underpants and muscled thighs in spandex tights. _Hmm, he bet Gibbs would look hot in a Superman suit_.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the kinds reviews everyone! **

When Jethro and Abby got back to his place, she made her way to the kitchen to finish up dinner, and he ran upstairs to quickly change his clothes. He'd gotten a little wet helping Tony, and his jeans were damp and uncomfortable. It didn't take long for her to have supper on the table and they dug in, both being exceptionally hungry due to the long delay in their plans.

Gibbs was quiet, not an unusual occurrence for him, but Abby noticed that he also seemed preoccupied, and had been since they left Tony's. After a few unsuccessful attempts to start conversation, she let it go. Despite of her usual tendency to chatter she knew when to be quiet, and was good at reading her friends. And tonight, for some reason, Gibbs needed quiet.

As soon as their dinner was over, they both got up and began to clear the table. When Gibbs made motions towards starting the dishes, Abby gently took him by the arm and pulled him over to the basement stairs.

"Go. You need to hold chisels and touch wood. I can see it in the crease between your eyebrows. I'll do the dishes and then I'm off to Tony's."

Gibbs put up a protest that it wasn't fair to her to pull KP duty after cooking, but she held her ground and firmly pushed him into the doorway. "Go. Move it. I'll be down to say goodbye before I leave." And in a reversal from their usual roles, she stretched up to press a kiss to his forehead. That got her a soft smile, a growly hug, and a "Thanks Abbs, love you" whispered into her neck before he jogged down the basement stairs to work though whatever was on his mind.

As Abby puttered around the kitchen, washing, drying, and wrapping leftovers for the freezer, she listened carefully for noise from the basement. Before too long she heard the faint rasping sounds of some woodworking project, and smiled. She'd done what she could to ensure all was right in the world of PapaBear. Now it was time to go coddle the second most important man in her life.

-0-0-0-

Gibbs took a seat on the high stool next to his project table, and picked up a partially wrapped shard of glass. An old trick his dad taught him decades ago to scrape old layers of paint off wood. He'd been working at stripping down this old rocking chair for a couple of weeks now, and had almost all the old paint scraped off. Another couple of evenings work should do the trick, then he could begin the process of sanding and staining it. The old wood was such a beautiful tone, why anyone had ever covered it up with paint he'd never know.

As usual when he worked on a project, once he had settled into a rhythm with the job his mind began drifting. Tonight, he couldn't keep it off of Tony. He idly thought about his back injury, and how severe it really was. Would he be okay tomorrow, or should he be confined to desk duty? Maybe he should have Ducky enforce some mandatory time off to let it heal completely. A bad back wasn't something you wanted to take lightly; it could really screw you up if you didn't take care. Maybe that would be the best option – make Tony take a few days off. He and Abbs could check in on him a couple of times a day, make sure he was resting it properly.

Thinking of Tony's back led to thoughts of Tony's predicament. Gibbs grinned to himself. Tony sure had a way of getting himself into situations. Although he knew it wasn't funny, he still couldn't help but smile at the picture Tony had made when he first walked into the bathroom. All twisted like a pretzel in the bottom of the tub, with one of those frou-frou pillow things suctioned to the tub surround. Just a night-light was plugged into the outlet for light and a glass of wine on the floor. Another grin crossed Gibbs face as he ran through the scene in his mind – it was a Scooby Doo nightlight.

Gibbs smile faltered somewhat as his thoughts focused on Tony lying in the bathtub. He was such a handsome man. As Tony had pointed out earlier, they were both used to seeing other men naked in locker rooms and showers, but this was different. In locker rooms you never really looked. Maybe snuck a quick glance out of the corner of your eye, but you never actually looked. And there Tony had been, splayed out naked on the bottom of the tub. Olive skin wrapped around firm muscles. A nice amount hair covering a broad chest. The muscular, powerful thighs of an athlete. A groin with skin barely lighter in color than arms and legs. And centered in that groin, lying nestled in a lush bush of coarse, dark hair was his soft penis, curiously un-cut, and a set of heavy lightly furred balls. Jethro was glad the bush of hair was natural. Tony was so meticulous in his grooming and with his hair maintenance that Jethro had wondered if he was one of those men he'd heard about who trimmed or shaved or whatnot down there.

He thought that - woah, back up. He'd thought about this? When? What? What was he doing having thoughts like this about _Tony_. DiNozzo. Think of him as DiNozzo. Better that way.

He'd accepted long ago that he wasn't exactly a zero on the Kinsey scale. He'd looked at men a lot over the years, had a couple very minor flirtations when he was young, and, between Diane and Stephanie, had one approaching-serious affair with a high school history teacher named Rob, that ended when Rob moved back to Oklahoma to be near his rapidly aging parents.

But Tony? When had he started thinking this way about Tony? Sure, he'd always thought of the other man as attractive. He admired his skills as an agent and appreciated his athletic abilities and physical fitness. Although it drove him crazy most days, he did have a grudging respect for Tony's ability to diffuse tough situations with humor. Tony's street smarts were almost legendary, yet what attracted Jethro the most were the traits Tony kept hidden - a keen intellect, a charitable heart, and his vulnerable core.

Not many people knew about Tony's Masters Degree in Criminology, he only ever mentioned his Bachelors in PhysEd. Abby had let it slip once a couple of months ago that she and Tony were in school again (again? Had they done this before?). They were enrolled together in a Film Studies course and were working their way though the online classes. Gibbs wondered how many other courses the closet academic had completed over the years, and what various topics he had studied.

He also knew that Tony wasn't quite the prolific ladies man he made himself out to be. Many of Tony's weeknight 'dates' were dinners with the various elderly widow ladies that lived in Tony's apartment building, and free Saturday mornings could often find him with grey-haired ladies in his car on the way to the closest Super-Saver grocery store so the ladies wouldn't have to deal with cabs and lugging grocery bags up to their apartments afterwards.

Jethro saw this side of Tony, and he liked it. He liked it a lot. He liked Tony a lot. Well, there you had it. He was attracted to Tony, and had been for a while. It was time to stop lying that what he felt was only friendship and the admiration of a co-worker. The question was what would he do about it?


End file.
